COVENTRY'S hopes of maintaining their unique record of having contested every Craven Shield final since the inception of the competition in 1997 suffered a major setback at Brandon last night.

A 51-39 defeat to Midland rivals Wolverhampton has left the Monmore men sitting pretty at the top of the group table after away wins at both Belle Vue and Coventry.

It means the Whale Toyota Bees have to win in Monday's return at Wolverhampton - possibly by more than 12 points - to stand any chance of reaching this year's final.

Bees boss Colin Pratt said: "Wolves gated better than we did, and they also came from behind better as well. They were hyped up after losing six times to us this season and they showed that from heat one.

"Jason Lyons got caught up in some bad motorway traffic caused by a crash on the M6 and he had an off night. But he tried everything."

Pratt added: "It is a pity we have to go to Wolverhampton next Monday without Stuart Robson as he has done well there in his last couple of meetings.

"But all is not lost. We have won there three times already this season and we will go there confident we can win there again."

Ryan Fisher and Miroslaw Jablonski - younger brother of Wolverhampton's Krzysztof Jablonski - both had a spin around Brandon after the meeting.

But neither Pratt nor the young American would shed any light on speculation that Fisher could be a Bees asset next year.